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Downgrade By Minister May Blow Galway Port Plan Out of the Water

18th March 2017

The Dun Aengus Dock of the Port of Galway. Afloat adds in this view is a coastal products tanker, Galway Fisher or Forth Fisher. Both tankers are regular callers from the Whitegate Oil Refinery in Cork Harbour. Photo: Connacht Tribune

#Downgrade - A move by the Minister for Transport Shane Ross to downgrade Galway Port by signing a ministerial order could signal the death knell for the multimillion euro harbour development – and the entire expansion of the city to the sea.

As The Conncht Tribune writes, Galway City Councillors recently voted unanimously on a proposal calling on Minister Ross not to change Galway Port’s status from a national port to a port of regional significance.

Former government minister Éamon Ó Cuív is adamant that unless Galway remains a top tier port, it could join a long list of infrastructural projects that have been scuppered in the west due to planning difficulties.

The 2013 National Ports Policy stated that Galway Port should be downgraded from a national port to a port of regional significance.